The Delinquents is a 1957 American drama film written, produced, and directed by Robert Altman. As the directorial debut of Altman, he filmed it in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri during the summer of 1956 on a $63,000 budget. It is not only the first film Altman directed, but also the first to star Tom Laughlin.

Plot

In suburban Kansas City, a group of hot-rod greasers and carousing delinquents stir trouble in a bar when they are denied drinks. Cholly and Eddy, the leaders of the gang, respond by breaking a window. Meanwhile, 18-year-old Scotty White and 16-year-old Janice Wilson are very much in love, but her parents stand between them because Janice is "too young to go steady" and Scotty "hangs out with the wrong crowd", with her dad telling him to stay away. Scotty, going to college in the fall, is told he could talk to them about seeing her when he comes back for Christmas vacation. At the drive-in alone that night, Scotty gets wrongly targeted by a gang who are looking for the person who slashed one of their tires. Cholly comes to Scotty's rescue. Cholly cooks up the idea of posing as Janice's new boyfriend and bringing her to meet Scotty the next night. The plan works well, and the teen crowd all meet at an abandoned mansion on the edge of town. However, the party gets out of hand with wild drinking and dancing, and Scotty and Janice leave to be alone after Cholly and Eddy each dance suggestively with Janice.